Clinical psychologists' experiences of working with survivors of torture and the processes by which they manage such work

Prof Doc Thesis


Kapp, Sylvia 2005. Clinical psychologists' experiences of working with survivors of torture and the processes by which they manage such work. Prof Doc Thesis University of East London School of Psychology
AuthorsKapp, Sylvia
TypeProf Doc Thesis
Abstract

Torture is practised in many countries of the world as a tool of oppression and to
suppress dissent. Those fleeing such human rights abuses may present various
challenges to psychologists working in the UK, given that theoretical models of
distress typically do not account for the social, political and economic factors
involved in the infliction of torture, and given that the profession of clinical
psychology has traditionally taken a stance of political neutrality which may be
difficult ethically to sustain while working closely with the emotive content presented
by survivors of atrocities. There has been little systematic research on how clinicians
experience their work with refugees and asylum seekers who have been tortured, and
this study set out to explore the emotional impact on psychologists, the ways in which
they negotiate their professional role, and the frameworks they use to enable them to
make sense of carrying out such therapeutic work. Interviews with eight clinical
psychologists were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, and
themes relating to the impact of such work on clinicians, the context of the work, and
the psychological processes by which they manage these, are discussed. The
significance of these themes for theory, professional practice and service organisation
within the NHS are considered.

Year2005
Publication dates
PrintJan 2005
Publication process dates
Deposited02 Jul 2014
Additional information

This thesis supplied via ROAR to UEL-registered users is protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights, and duplication of any part of the material is not permitted, except for your personal use for the purposes of non-commercial research and private study in electronic or print form. You must obtain permission from the copyright-holder for any other use. Electronic or print copies may not be offered, for sale or otherwise, to anyone. No quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement.

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